The rest of the trip was indeed uneventful. Wallace required a stop so we could get a milkshake at the Red Light Garage. Nice weather in Wallace so we sat outside and enjoyed a break before the final push to Spokane. Tim peeled off in Coeur d'Alene to head to Cusick where he lives. Dave and I continued to Spokane and our homes. I got home at nearly 5pm and the day's tally was 422 miles.
Epilogue
It was a great trip - perhaps even an epic trip. At 4,523 miles ridden, it is certainly the longest trip I've ever taken. My gas mileage for the trip averaged out to a smidge over 46mpg. Not too bad for a fully loaded Suzuki DL650 V-Strom battling winds from all directions. Usually every trip has me learning something about motorcycle traveling. This one was pretty good. My only major mistake was not taking my cold weather sleeping bag. There were only a few nights where the weather was warm enough for just the sleeping bag I brought. All other nights I was in long johns, had the fleece liner and then the fleece blanket on top of that. I won't make that mistake again. About the only other thing that comes to mind was cooking. It really is cheaper and tastier buying food on the go and then cooking it at the campsite. Having a freeze-dried meal or two as emergency rations is certainly a good idea and possibly better if traveling alone, but if you're with others, pooling resources for dinner was much more enjoyable. Oh yeah, next time, no more matches. Those little flexible butane lighters are the way to go. They're cheap and you can buy them anywhere if yours goes empty.
Riding with Dan and Bill was a real pleasure. Those two know how to move it on down the highway and ride like I like to ride in the twisties: fast! Bill says he did have to baby his rear tire a bit though. He told me after the trip that the cords were showing by the time he got home. Yikes! We all got along famously with no issues at all. Unless they had issues with me and were too polite to bring it up. That's certainly possible. When Dave and Tim showed up I know that the dynamic changed, but it didn't seem to alter the good atmosphere of the ride and camping. We still got along, we still rode fast - we just had to stop more so Tim could both empty & fill up now and then (if you know what I mean).
So the question: would I do a trip like this again? The answer is "yes" but not right away. I love my wife - two weeks was a long time to be away. The next long trip will be with her in the car, showing her some of the beautiful areas I've ridden through. The next bike trips will be closer to home. I have some shorter trips that I think Dave and I will take alone. Some "brothers" rides as it were, soaking up some of the local history when we ride. I've always regretted riding past so many fascinating bits of history but usually there's a time element involved and we have somewhere to be. Future rides will have more stops along the way to "smell the roses" or at least read about them and take pictures.
Bill Motsenbocker
Dan Schneider
Tom Clark
Dave Clark
Tim Pontius
Tom Clark
I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Intellitect, living in Spokane, Washington. I also do a little development work on the side. And I love riding motorcycles all over the country with my friends.
